Grizzlies: Positives seen in 2-1 loss to Walleye

West Valley City • For 60 minutes the Utah Grizzlies went toe to toe against the best team in the ECHL in the Toledo Walleye.

Playing with a confidence that was lacking in Wednesday night's affair, Utah outshot Toledo 29 to 24. All of that hard work, however, didn't result in a victory as Toledo took Game 2 of the three-game series, 2-1.

Nonetheless, Utah coach Tim Branham saw a lot of positives from the game.

"That game could have gone either way. I thought our guys played great and we had so many chances, especially early on. We need to stay positive and stay the course. We expect to beat this team and Saturday night will be a big test for us."

Following a similar script to Wednesday's game, Toledo scored the first two goals before Utah responded.

The third time was the charm for the Walleye on the power play as Scott Czarnowczan claimed the lead for the visitors. Shortly after, a beautiful two-line pass was received by Dane Walters from Jacob MacDonald and with nothing standing between him and the net except goalie Troy Redmann, Walters deposited it into the back of the net for a two-goal lead.

Sensing the game was slipping away, Utah turned it up offensively. Mathieu Aubin scored on a redirected puck from Michael Pelech for his ninth goal on the season, continuing an impressive streak of having scored a goal in four consecutive games.

"We played a solid game and we outchanced them," Aubin said. "It's frustrating to come up short, but we need to stay positive. We know we can play with the best and we need to build on it. If we can battle like that against the best team in the league, good things will happen."

The Grizzlies were able to avoid potential disaster at the game's onset, withstanding consecutive power plays in which Toledo was able to tally only two shots on goal. Although the contest was scoreless after the first period, Utah outshot the Walleye 13 to seven.